Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on ensuring that businesses have access to the sales skills they need for exporting after the UK leaves the EU.

As announced in the Industrial Strategy, My noble Friend the Minister for State for Trade and Export Promotion (Baroness Fairhead) will lead the creation of a new export strategy. Reporting in spring 2018, the Export Strategy review will ensure that the government has the right financial, practical and promotional support in place for new and existing exporters to sell overseas as we leave the EU. My noble Friend will be engaging with a number of government departments across Whitehall.

In addition to our existing services, we are already piloting intensive export growth support for potential scale-ups and particularly ambitious medium sized businesses.